THE Birmingham Mail has launched 34 new community sections on its website, bringing you news and pictures from your area.

Your Communities is the latest initiative to be launched on www.Birminghammail.net and covers Birmingham, Solihull and parts of Staffordshire.

Each community website features the latest news, community events and a gallery of nostalgic pictures.

Visitors also have access to travel information for their area, information about local attractions and opening times and contact details for local MPs and councillors.

The Mail is also seeking to work with existing hyperlocal websites in the city. More than 25 have already agreed to join the initiative. Content from the Your Communities section will appear in print every week in the Mail’s Yours supplement.

Readers are also being asked to send in their stories and pictures through the website and can sign up to the Mail’s Flickr group.

Birmingham City Centre

The Birmingham Central blog has reported how work has started to remove old retail units within the Pallasades shopping centre as part of the redevelopment of New Street Station.

It will free up space for demolition experts Coleman and Co to extricate 20,000 tonnes of concrete and dismantle the roof to allow for the new atrium to be constructed.

Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre has opened a consultation on plans to adopt academy status following concerns from parents that the school was attempting to hurry through the proposals.

Sarah Barton, whose daughter is in Year 7, launched a petition calling for the school to engage with parents, students and teachers and to only approve the plans with the consent of a majority of parents.

The Friends of Cotteridge Park have launched a survey asking for feedback on this year’s CoCoMad community festival.

Thousands flocked to the event at Cotteridge Park to hear performances from local musicians and bands, to browse arts and crafts, sample different foods and to take part in an array of children’s activities.

Staff from a Digbeth bike shop used the Birmingham Sky Ride event on Sunday to promote their services to budding cyclists.

Stuart Duckworth, manager of On Your Bike, spoke to those taking part in the event – designed to encourage more people to take up cycling in a traffic-free environment – and even offered discounts to readers of the Digbeth Is Good blog.